Last week throngs of influencers from the worlds of art, fashion, and entertainment descended on Pavilhao Ciccillo Matarazzo in São Paulo for the 9th edition of the São Paulo International Art Fair in Latin America. The fair focuses on top galleries from Brazil and other parts of the world.
Of the numerous events taking place during the fair, there were four standouts, including Gagosian Gallery’s private dinner at Manioca, the much talked about IGUATEMI supported exhibition “The Insides Art on the Outside” organized my mega-curator, Hans Ulrich Obrist, “Paper Mirrors” at Galerie Nara Roesler featuring local art world favorite Vik Muniz, and the star studded amfAR 3rd Inspiration Gala.
WEDNESDAY
Gagosian Private Dinner
To kick off the week on Wednesday, Gagosian Gallery celebrated its inaugural participation in the 2013 San Paulo International Art Fair by hosting a private dinner at Manioca in Sao Paulo with music by DJ Sean Souza.
On the chic, tree-lined patio at Manioca, guests, which included Staffan Ahrenberg, Ricard & Angela Akagawa, Caetano de Almeida, Joao Orleans e Braganca, Carlito Carvalhosa, Vik Muniz, Tim Goosens, Carlos Souza, Luis Pastore & Carolina Overmeer, among many other high-profile guests, joined Gagosian directors Victoria Gelfand-Magalhães (Gagosian New York), Serena Cattaneo Adorno (Gagosian Paris) and Millicent Wilner (Gagosian London).
For its second presentation in the country, Gagosian Gallery enlisted Brazilian designer Claudia Moreira Salles for the design of its booth. Artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cecily Brown, Alexander Calder, John Chamberlain, Dan Colen, Willem de Kooning, Urs Fischer, Alberto Giacometti, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Takashi Murakami, Pablo Picasso, Richard Prince, Gerhard Richter, Thomas Ruff, Ed Ruscha, Richard Serra, Rudolf Stingel, Andy Warhol, Franz West, Rachel Whiteread and Christopher Wool was featured this year, among many other blue-chip artists.
THURSDAY
IGUATEMI Presents: Exposição Casa de Vidro (Glass House Exhibition)
“The Insides Are on the Outside,” Hans Ulrich Obrist’s first exhibition in Brazil, opened on April 4 at Linda Bo Bardi’s iconic Casa de Vidro in Morumbi, Sao Paulo. Supported by IGUATEMI, produced by Isbaela Mora and realized in collaboration with SESC Pompeia and the Lina Bo Bardi & the Instituto P.M. Bardi, the exhibition featured 34 Brazilian and international artists and architects.
Artists and architects were free to utilize and explore any aspect of Casa de Vidro, Bardi’s final residence in Morumbi. Built in the rainforest in the mid 20th-century, the architecture of the house seamlessly combines the natural and artificial. “This exhibition has been conceived as a dual homage to the house and its creator. It reiterates the continued relevance of the Casa de Vidro as a toolbox for practicing architecture and arts in the present,” said Obrist.
“Paper Mirrors” Featuring Vik Muniz
Last week also saw the opening of “Paper Mirrors” by Vik Muniz at Galeria Nara Roesler during the São Paulo International Art Fair. Large-scale photographs display, on first glance, abstracted replicas of the most recognizable paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries such as Courbet’s Origin of the World, Monet’s Vase of Flowers, and Whistler’s Symphony in White. A more thorough look reveals that each picture is an intricate collage of hundreds of images from magazines arranged by color gradient. Muniz, inspired by Duchamp’s exploration of “canned chance,” was interested in the idea of deliberate accident. He also challenges viewers by never giving them the satisfaction of finding meaning. “I try to avoid any kind of closure,” Muniz said. “The moment you find closure in a picture, your motion is to pull away from it.”
SATURDAY
amfAR 3rd Inspiration Gala
The week ended on Saturday with amfAR’s Inspiration Gala chaired by Sharon Stone, Kate Moss, Felipe, Dinho, and Lucilia Diniz. Joined by Stone and Moss were Josh Duhamel, Dita Von Teese, Seu Jorge, and Gilberto Gil and a distinguished group of Brazil’s elite to pay tribute to Fergie and Pelé. The gala, once again held at the home of Dinho Diniz, raised $2.3 Million to benefit amfAR’s life-saving AIDS research initiatives.
Guests were stunned when Josh Duhamel made a surprise appearance to present the Award of Inspiration to Fergie, his wife, who was also caught off guard. Upon receiving the award, Fergie went into a rendition of “Tomorrow.” Pele, Brazil’s most cultural icon, was less performative upon receiving the Humanitarian Award presented by Gilberto Gil, but that did little to deter his prolonged standing ovation. Stone, Global Fundraising Chairman spoke about the a recent case of a child cured of HIV in Missippi that was aided with funds by amfAR-funded research. Stone thanked the group and said they should be proud of themselves for contributing to such a monumental breakthrough.
The auction netted $2.3 million from various sources, including a private meet and greet with the legendary Pele for $110,000 and a signed soccer ball for $50,000, an exclusively designed Louis Vuitton foosball table for their São Paulo store for $65,000, and Moet Hennessy donated a special surprise Jeroboam of Moet & Chandon, which Stone and Moss both signed. To sweeten the deal, Moss offered to kiss the winning bidder, which she did as soon as the bid sold for $50,000. World-renowned Brazilian street artists Os Gemeos created a custom, one-of-a-kind artwork for the amfAR event selling for $110,000, Diniz pledged $120,000 to buy the gown that his girlfriend Daniella Cicarelli was wearing and Stone gathered pledges from the crowd, who were eager to hear Fergie come back on stage and sing a song. After $273,000 was raised, Fergie agreed, and sang a powerful a cappella version of her hit “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” with audience participation.
Other guests at the benefit included Isabeli Fontana, Caroline Trentini, Carol Dieckmann, Donata Meirelles, Flora Gil, and Mariana Ximenes, who all wore Louis Vuitton, Fabiana Sempreborn, Viviane Orth, and Sergio Marone, who wore Hugo Boss, as well as Alex Lundqvist, Karolina Kurkova, Ana Beatris Barros, and Izabel Goulart, among many others.
